Vacuum cleaner with cordwinder,wire harness,and electrical terminal board



July 22, 1969 R. J. BROWN AL .VACUUM CLEANER. WITH connwlNur-J'u, wwwHAHNmss, ANU

ELECTRICAL TERMTNAL BOARD Filed OCt. 24, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NVNTORSRoar/er J. Bzawnl Jou/v J-Mousl/TY THEIR ATTOR A 3,456,280 AND July 22,1969 R. -LBROWN ET AL VACUUM CLEANER WITHl CORDWINDER, WIRE HARNESSELECTRICAL TERMINAL BOARD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed OCb. 24, 1967 INVENTORSEo 8527 J Bzowm/ Jef/N Maya/rv Byrm THEIR ATTORNEYS United States PatentOlce 3,456,280 VACUUM CLEANER WITH CORDWINDER,

WIRE HARNESS, AND ELECTRICAL TER- MINAL BOARD Robert J. Brown and JohnJ. Moughty, South Salem, N.Y., assignors to Electrolux Corporation,Greenwich, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 24, 1967, Ser.No. 677,663 Int. Cl. A471 9/00 U.S. Cl. 15-323 5 Claims ABSTRACT F THEDISCLOSURE A vacuum cleaner having a unitary electric conductor harnessfor electrically coupling the cordwinder, motorblower unit, switch, andelectric outlets of the cleaner and a terminal board to which theharness is removably connected. The terminal board is designed so thatstrip contacts carried by the harness are each hooked onto the board atone end and latched to the board at a depressed portion in the stripcontacts corresponding with a depression in the terminal board withinwhich resilient fingers are located for receiving each of the stripcontacts. The resilient fingers can be spread apart for quick removal ofthe strip contacts and replacement of the harness.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to apparatus tofacilitate the assembly and field repair of vacuum cleaners and inparticular to apparatus for making electrical connections be-v SUMMARYOF THE INVENTION Soldering machines and machines for rapidly attachingcrimp connectors to conductor leads are not capable of functioningwithin the confines of a vacum cleaner body and therefore theseoperations have been done heretofore by a skilled worker. By virtue ofthis invention connectors can be crimped onto a conductor harness on aproduction line and snap fastened in place within the small confines ofthe cleaner body by unskilled labor in a short time.

An object of the invention therefore is to provide apparatus forfacilitating assembly during manufacture and field repair of a vacuumcleaner by unskilled persons.

Another object of the invention is to provide a terminal board havingsnap-like strip contacts which allows a circuit harness to be attachedand replaced within the small confines of a vacuum cleaner body withgreater ease than heretofore.

The foregoing objects, and additional objects and advantanges will beapparent from the following detailed description of the attached drawingillustrating presently preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. l is a somewhat diagrammatic,cut-away view of a vacuum cleaner incorporating the subject invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the conductor harness shown in FIG. l.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the terminal board with the strip contacts ofthe harness shown in FIG. 2 attached.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side elevation of the terminal board takenon line 4, 4 of FIG. 3.

3,456,280 Patented July 22, 1969 FIG. 5 is a partial side view of thehousingffor the cordwinder showing the circuit elements incorporatedtherein for cooperation with the terminal board. `V

The vacuum cleaner shown diagrammatically in PIG. l consists of anelongated body 10 which receives, at one end, a cordwinder unitgenerally designated 11 upon which a cordset 12 is reeled and payed-outas is well known. A conventional motor-blower unit, generally designated13 is mounted within the cleaner body 10 in any suitable manner fordrawing air into a conventional dust bag 14 within the inner body 15. Afront cover 16 which is hinged onto the body 10 at one end incorporatesa suction inlet conduit 18 of known design with which a hose 9 isconnected. Dirt entrained in the air stream created by the blower isconducted via the hose 9 and suction inlet 18 to the dust bag or dustseparator. The dust bag 14 is removed and replaced through the openingwhich is closed by the front cover in use. The suction inlet conduit 18is provided with electric conductors so that current can be supplied toa motor driven tool attached to the other end of the hose 9 as describedin detail in copending application Serial No. 648,653 filed June 26,1967, in the name 0f Robert I. Brown et al. Current from the cordset 12is distributed by the harness generally designated 19, (FIG. 2) to theOn Off switch 17 and the electric components incorporated in the frontcover. The harness conductors 19a are cut to length and conventionalcrimp connectors 20 are attached thereto in a separate mass productionoperation. The strip contacts 21 are likewise attached by crimping tothe other end of the harness connectors by high speed crimping machinesso that the harness 19 may be supplied to an assembly station as acomplete subassembly such as shown in FIG. 2, including a mountinggrommet 22 for attaching the harness to a bulkhead in the cleaner bodyand a tail end grommet to provide added insulation for the harnessconductors bridging the gap between body 10 and the hinged front cover16 particularly when the front cover is open.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the strip contacts 21attached to the harness have a reverse bend 23 at one end, and a blade24 at the other end for receiving the leads 13a from the motor-blowerunit (FIG. 1). The harness conductors 19a are attached to the stripcontact 21 by crimping tabs 25 (FIG. 2) depending from a depressedportion 26 of the contacts 21. The depressed portion 26 of t-he contacts21 interconnects the blade portion 24 with the coplanar portion 27adjacent the bent end 23. As will be explained in connection with FIG. 5the surface portion 27 of contacts 21 functions as a wiper contactsurface with the free end of strip contacts 42 on the cordwinder cover41.

Afterminal board generally designated 30 which is fixed, by riveting orother suitable means, on the inner surface of the cleaner body 10adjacent to the cordwinder unit 11 as shown in FIG. 1 is provided with anumber of apertures 31 which receive the bent end 23 of the contacts 21thereby hooking one end of the contacts to the elevated wall 32 of theboard. The depressed portion 26 of each of the contacts 21 is receivedbetween a pair of resilient fingers 33 for holding the contacts on theterminal board. The contacts 21 are held against lateral movement by thebent end 23 of the contacts which are located in the apertures 31 aswell as the fingers 33 which engage the depressed portion 26 of thecontacts. Longitudinal movement of the contacts 21 to the left as viewedin FIG. 3 is prohibited by engagement of Ithe depressed portion 26 ofthe contact with the adjacent side wall of the terminal board which isspaced from and parallel with fingers 33 (FIG. 5). Movement of contacts21 to the right in FIG. 3 is prohibited by the hook 23 of the contactswhich engage the adjacent end of the upper wall 32. Contacts 21 areremoved from the terminal board by spreading lingers 33 apart andlifting the contacts so that the depressed portion 26 is elevated aboveupper Wall 32, then the contact can be moved to withdraw the hook 23from the aperture 31 of the terminal board.

The terminal board 30 is provided with wall members 34 which dene a Wellfor the blades 24 to insure against physical contact between theadjacent motor leads attached to the blades 24. Wall members 35 may beprovided to prevent accidental connection of a motor lead 13a with ablade 24 that is not to be connected with the motor.

FIG. illustrates the arrangement for making contact between the cordset12 of the cordwinder 11 and the strip contacts 21 mounted on theterminal board 30. In FIG. 5 the reel 39 (which is similar to the reelshown in U.S. Patent No. 3,011,033) for winding and paying-out thecordset is only partly shown to simplify this view. One flange of thereel 39 is provided with a pair of slip rings (only one is shown) whichengage brushes 40 (FIG. 1)

connected to the cordwinder housing 41 of insulating material. Housing41 is attached to the cleaner body 10 in any known manner. The brushes.40, of which only one is shown in FIG. 5, are electrically coupled tostrip contacts 42 by means of a rivet which also secures the brushes 40and one end of the strips 42 to the housing 41. The strips 42 are alsoanchored in channels formed in the housing 41 by means of tags 43 struckfrom the strip for this purpose. The strips 42 are congured to t thecontour of the housing as shown in FIG. 5 and terminate in springcontacts 44 which establish a wiping engagement with portion 27 of thestrip contacts 21 mounted on the terminal board 30 and crimped to theharness 19. The electrical connection of the conductors of the cordsetwith the slip rings mounted on the reel of the cordwinder is well known,therefore these details are not shown in the drawing or described.However, the electric circuit between the cordset 12 and the terminalblock 30 includes slip rings 38 on the cord reel 39` which are connectedto the conductors 12 of the cordset. The slip rings 38 engage thebrushes 40 attached to the strips 42 which terminate in resilientcontacts 44. The contacts 44 engage the surface portion 27 of the stripcontacts 21. Therefore when the cordwinder unit 11 is assembled with thecleaner body during manufacture or in the field it is electricallyconnected to the harness 19 automatically by virtue of the wipingengagement of contacts 44 with the strip conductors 21 connected to theterminal board 30. Thus, a defective or worn cordwinder can be removedand a new cordwinder inserted in the eld without requiring skilled laborto disconnect and rewifre the cordwinder connections with the harness.

It will be apparent that if the harness wires are long enough to extendbeyond the cleaner body 10 for connection with a replacement cordwinderunit, that these wires could become entangled with the rotor orcommutator of the motor when the replacement cordwinder was pushed intothe cleaner body.

It will be equally apparent that the terminal board and removable stripcontacts 21 overcome this problem as well as the problems noted above inthe Background of the invention. That is, in manufacturing the vacuumcleaner the harness is attached to the strip contacts 21 by a knowncrimping machine prior to assembly in the cleaner body. This harnessassembly is then attached to the interior of the cleaner body merely byhooking the bent end onto the terminal board and pushing it down ontothe board until the lingers 33 grasp the depressed portion 26 of thestrip contacts 21. Once the harness is attached to the terminal boardthe motor-blower unit can be inserted in the cleaner body and the motorleads placed on the blades 24 by solderless connectors 20 attached tothe motor leads and since only two blades 24 are accessible, due to wallparts 35 of the terminal block, these connections can be made byunskilled labor.

The foregoing description of a presently preferred embodiment of theinvention is given in connection with a vacuum cleaner, however, it willbe apparent to those skilled in the art that its application is notlimited to use in a vacuum cleaner and that various modifications can bemade in adapting the invention to other apparatus.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination comprising a terminal board having a plurality ofstrip contacts removably connected thereto; said contacts having areverse bend portion .at one end, a depressed portion in each of saidcontacts spaced from said one end for defining a wiper contact surfacebetween said depressed portion and said reverse bend, wire andinsulation tabs depending from said depressed portion in the directionof said depressed portion and a blade portion defining the other end ofsaid strip contacts, said blade portion being elevated above saiddepressed portion; said terminal board consisting of insulating materialand having a plurality of apertures in an end wall of said terminalboard receiving the bent end of each of said plurality of stripcontacts, a second wall portion connected with said first wall portionand defining a corner of said terminal board, said second wall portionhaving a recess corresponding with the depressed portion of said stripcontacts, and a plurality of resilient bifurcated members receiving thedepressed portion of said strip contacts whereby each of said stripcontacts is removably secured on said terminal board.

2. The combination accord-ing to claim 1 with the addition of wallmembers on said terminal board interposed between adjacent bladeportions of said strip contacts for insulation purposes.

3. The combination of claim 1 with the addition of electric harnessmeans having said strip contacts fastened to the conductors of saidharness means.

4. The combination of claim 1 with the addition of a vacuum cleanerhaving an elongated body member, a cordwinder means at one end of saidbody, said cordwinder means having electric conductor means attachedthereto, said cordwinder conductor means terminating in spring contactsat each end, said spring contacts at one end of said conductor meansengaging said wiper surface of said strip contacts for electricallycoupling said cordwinder means with said harness.

5. The combination of claim 4 with the addition of a motor-blower unitin said cleaner body having motor leads, the motor leads of said motor-blower unit having terminal means adapted for connection with saidblade portions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,195,343 3/ 1940 Sayre.

2,809,361 10/1957 Woofter et al 339-148 X 2,961,688 11/1960 Descarries15-323 3,029,462 4/ 1962 Tamarin 191-12.2 X 3,106,435 10/1963 Yopp.

3,209,308 9/ 1965 Aquillon.

LARAMIE E. ASKIN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

